


you're crashing, but you're no wave

by ElasticElla



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: (s), Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Background Relationships, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, mention of past abusive relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 06:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11754240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticElla/pseuds/ElasticElla
Summary: Her junior year at NYU was going so damn well, she should have known an outside force was coming to ruin a piece of it.Alexander Gideon Lightwood for Congress- there’s even fucking bumper stickers.





	you're crashing, but you're no wave

**Author's Note:**

> this uh isn't even close to the political au i was planning on ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> title from the fob song, i live on [tumblr](http://bizeke.tumblr.com/)

It’s all Alec fucking Lightwood’s fault. 

Everything was peachy keen before his announcement. Her and Isabelle had been hooking up for a few months, she was acing her marine biology classes, and she finally found the balance between bartending enough to pay for college and sleeping enough not to pass out in class. Hell, she was even thinking about contacting her parents. (Well, thinking about starting to plan to contact them, but still- progress.)

Her junior year at NYU was going so damn well, she should have known an outside force was coming to ruin a piece of it. 

Alexander Gideon Lightwood for Congress- there’s even fucking bumper stickers. 

.

“Hey, Bat’s throwing a party. 10, next Friday. It’d be good to see you again. Call me sometime.” 

.

Okay, if Maia is being fair she knows it’s Maryse’s fault. It might have been Alec’s decision to run, but she’s running his campaign, making sure their family appears as perfect as it can be. (Lydia Branwell has been spotted on his arm at numerous fundraisers, and Alec’s just as straight as any of the other Republican congressmen that came before him that ended up on their knees in bathroom stalls.) 

Maybe she’s too quick to blame parents though, lord knows she has her issues. _We love Jordan honey_ , said after a dinner and Maia can’t help but blame them for not knowing. For not recognizing when their daughter brought a monster home, and it isn’t fair but Maia hasn’t been interested in fairness for quite some time. (Righteousness is sexier, escapism easier to breathe with.) 

.

Bat’s party is epic, they always are. There’s a fun degree of nerdiness with Harry Potter-themed decorations and drinks, and his boyfriend Simon provides some live kickass music. It has all the makings of a wonderful night out. 

But Maia’s still stuck on the voicemail she left Izzy, on the text reply she got a few hours later: _sorry, can’t_. 

If Isabelle had broken things off because it was her choice, it wouldn’t bug her so much. But knowing that it wasn’t grates her, pushes her between self-pity and anger. She spots Meliorn in the corner with Dot, and three drinks tilt towards rash decisions and wet lips. 

It isn’t that she uses sex as a punishment for herself, hell sex with Meliorn is fantastic- Izzy wasn’t joking when she said the guy knew how to use his tongue. It’s using sex as a weapon, as a preemptive measure. It doesn’t matter that her and Iz could never get back together, could never date seriously because now that she’s screwed her ex and best friend, it’s impossible. 

Burning bridges, Maia’s always been good at that. 

.

Next Friday there’s a small article on a political gossip rag, one Maia only sees by mistake, glancing at someone’s tablet screen on the subway. There’s a picture of Izzy and Alec and a vaguely familiar looking man, arm wrapped around Iz. It’s the caption that kills her though, _Candidate Alec Lightwood shares a toast with Congressman Aldertree_.

It isn’t supposed to hurt. She’d already cut ties with Isabelle, current and future. 

It’s the past though that punches her in the gut, memory coming up her throat slick. 

_‘One fear,’ Isabelle says. ‘C’mon you wanted to play drinking games.’_

_Maia snorts, ‘I said we should go inside before getting written up for public intoxication.’_

_‘Whatever. I’ll go first. I’m afraid I’ll lose contact with all my college friends once I graduate.’ Izzy grabs her tequila once she finishes, sipping deeply._

_Maia lightly punches her shoulder, ‘You’re not getting rid of me so easily.’_

_She smiles, ‘Your turn.’_

_Maia fake groans and Izzy laughs. ‘Fine,’ Maia says, ‘I’m afraid I’ll never fall in love.’_

_Honestly, Maia doesn’t know where that came from- she meant to make a joke about the school’s library. But the words are true- she’s never known romantic love that isn’t twisted into something else, can’t even imagine it either way. It makes it easy to wonder if something might be broken in her._

_‘You will,’ Izzy says, completely sure of it. ‘Give it time.’_

_Maia drinks it off, ‘Alright, your turn.’_

_Iz finishes her glass, looks up to the stained dorm ceiling. ‘I’m afraid I’ll never chase my dreams. That I’ll end up like her one day, completely invested in everyone’s lives but my own.’_

_‘Well shit, what do you want?’_

_Izzy blinks, ‘What?’_

_‘Name it, anything. What do you want right now?’ Maia asks._

_Iz licks her lips slow, eyes flicking between her mouth and eyes. Maia’s pulse speeds, trips- she didn’t even know Izzy liked girls._

_‘You.’_

_And their lips collide, clumsy hands tearing to feel everything they can at once._

Maia can see the Aldertree-Lightwood wedding announcement already, a year from now, the merging of two political dynasties. The wedding itself would be set two months before the vote, close enough to be in voters’ heads but far enough away to avoid criticism. They’d get a puppy after the honeymoon, a sweet photogenic puppy from a local adoption center. Isabelle would start and run a new non-profit, something everyone can get behind- food or education. A few years later, right before the questions can come, Isabelle would have kids. At least two, maybe three. 

So much for not becoming her mother. 

.

This semester is all about the tropics- marine vegetation, invertebrates, and vertebrates. Maia had been looking forward to it, but now that she’s here, every class makes her crave going far south. She wants to see tropical fish and coral in their natural environment, and the better weather wouldn’t hurt either. She studies by a nearby lake instead, it doesn’t quite do the trick, there isn’t even the background noise of waves crashing, but it’s good enough for now. 

She doesn’t want to think about when she got so good at compromising with herself.

.

“Maia? It’s me. I um, I hope it’s not too late for me to be calling you back. I miss you. I’d really love to see you, are you free at all this week? Call me.”

Maia hesitates, phone in her hand. Izzy was supposed to be in her past, a happy enough fling that lasted until things got complicated. Hell, she doesn’t even know if she’s still with the picturesque congressman, can’t bring herself to google it. 

Maia hesitates, but her finger still taps Izzy’s name, anticipation bubbling in her chest. Just to sate her curiosity, just to see what Isabelle says- just because maybe that fantasy of them becoming more isn’t entirely dead. 

“Maia?” Iz answers, “I’m so glad you called me back…”

Maia sits down, fiddling with a hole in her jeans, heart racing. “Me too.”


End file.
